Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Harlequin invasion

I wrote most of this blog a day before the BBC wrote an article on ladybird spottting, but I didn't get a chance to add the photos until now.

We've had a lot of ladybirds in the garden this year. They absolutely adore the tansy Tanacetum vulgare that we have in the wildflower border.

These are different colour variants of the invasive Harlequin ladybird:H. axyridis succinea:H. axyridis conspicua and H. axyridis succineaI can't find a name for the red one below. Since the harlequin is so variable it's probable that there aren't names for all the colour variants, but if anyone knows differently please let me know.We've also had 2-spots and 7-spots in the garden this year:Worryingly I'm getting more and more used to seeing Harlequins and the native species are beginning to seem really small when I do see them.